Exercise rack



Nov. 28, 1961 D. R. ALLARD EXERCISE RACK Filed July 20, 1960 IN VE N 7' 0/? Donald R Allard United States Patent 1 3,010,720 EXERCISE RACK Donald R. Allard, 24 Lyudale Ave., Waterbury, Conn. Filed July 20, 1960, Ser. No. 44,173 2 Claims. (Cl. 272-81) This invention relates to athletic apparatus, and specifically to a gymnastic unit which combines several features enabling the performance of numerous different body exercises.

Athletic apparatus usually demands considerable space for proper function and it would therefore be expedient to provide an apparatus in which the several parts can be adjusted to enable various exercises to be performed within the same area.

It is therefore a primary object of this invention to provide an apparatus which combines the features of an abdominal board, a parallel bar, and weight lifting, each being operable at various angles.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an exercise apparatus which may be readily adjusted for use by persons of ditferent height, or for degree in severity of any proposed exercise.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide an exercise apparatus which is of simple robust construction and which may be manufactured at reasonable cost.

The invention consists of a rack formed by parallel rails separated by spaced cross bars. One end of the rack is pivotally supported between two uprights secured to the floor. Support is provided by a pivotal bar removably extending through a series of vertically spaced holes formed in the uprights. The other end of the rack is provided with pivotally mounted adjustable legs which depend from each rail. A weight bar extends through the free ends of the rails, and an abdominal board having a looped strap is supported by the cross bar.

A full understanding of the construction of this invention, together with further novel features and advantages, will be had from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with the attached drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus being used for the performance of abdominal exercises.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary cross sectional end elevation taken along the line 2-2 of FIG; 1.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the apparatus showing the abdominal board in position.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary cross sectional view taken along the line 44 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary side elevation of the device showing an athlete performing a squatting exercise under load.

reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views in the drawing.

Referring now to the drawing in details, the numeral represents a man performing an exercise involving touching his feet 11 with outstretched arms 12 whilst his legs 13 remain straight.

The apparatus, shown assembled in FIGS. 1 and 2, is supported on the ground 14. Two spaced apart uprights 15 are secured to the ground 14 by bolts 16 extending through laterally projecting flanges 17. Each upright 15 is formed with a series of equally spaced 3,010,720 Patented Nov. 28, 1961 adjustment holes 18 located along the length of the member. The uprights 15 terminate at their upper ends with adjustable bracket arms 19 pivotally mounted at one end to the side of the upright by pins 20. These brackets are adapted to engage with the ceiling or a wall to provide added stability to the apparatus, the adjustment being made by insertion of the pins 20 in the appropriate group of holes 21.

A rack 22 is constructed of two spaced apart rails 23 connected by a series of equally spaced transversely disposed cross bars 24. One end of each rail 23 is provided with a drilled boss 25- adapted to receive a pivot bar 26 which extends through opposite holes 18 in the uprights 15, at the desired degree of elevation. proaching the other ends of the rails 23 are two downwardly projecting bosses 27 which pivotally mount adjustable stands 28. The stands 28 may be tubular in cross section and have adjustable legs 29 slidably received the stands and retained in a selective position by a pin 30 which passes through the lower end of the stand and one of a series of holes 3-1 formed along the length of the leg. These adjusting stands may be pivoted in a. vertical plane and secured to the underside of the rails 23 by means of projecting spring clips 32, as shown by Way of example in FIG. 5.

Extending through one end of the rack 22 is a weight holding bar 33 which projects beyond both sides and is adapted to receive a selected number of disc weights 34 outwardly of the rack rails 22.

Two shoulder bars 35 are removably located in parallel relationship between the end cross bar 24 and the weight holding bar 33. Each shoulder bar is protected along its length by pads 36 for the purpose of protecting the user during exercises such as that depicted in FIG. 5. The bars 35 are provided with end clips 37 which releasably engage over the cross bar 24 and weight holding bar 33 and are secured thereto by means of bolts 38.

An abdominal board 39 is secured at one end to the top of the pivot bar 26 and extends rearwardly to rest on the top of the cross bars 24, and a strap 40 in the form of a loop issues across the width of the forward end of the board for exercising involving the anchoring of limbs such as the feet 11.

It will be clear from the above description that this apparatus, which comprises my invention, is exceedingly versatile in operation. The angle of the rack 22 can be adjusted to slope upwards or downwards, the downwards position is indicated in broken lines by 22'. Such varied orientation enables the user to grade the exercise to the desired severity and further enables an extended range of muscles to be used.

The squatting exercise shown in FIG. 5, depicts further novelty in this device since the weights 34 are pivotally mounted about the pivot bar 26. such mounting offers a series of support angles about which the exercise may be performed.

From the foregoing, it is believed that the construction, operation and advantages of this invention will be fully apparent. However, since numerous modifications will occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the construction exactly to that shown and described, and accordingly, modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A gymnastic apparatus, comprising spaced apart vertical uprights secured to the floor, a rack consisting of spaced parallel rails secured together by laterally disposed cross bars, one end of said rack pivotally mounted between said uprights by means of a pivot bar vertically adjustable relative to the uprights, adjustable legs pivotally mounted beneath the free ends of said rails, for selective vertical engagement with the floor, and an abdominal board having a looped strap issuing from one end supported on said cross bars, a weight bar extending laterally through the free ends of the -rack rails, and shoulder bars extending between the weight bar and one of said 4 cross bars, and disc weights received on said weight bar outwardly of said rails.

2. A gymnastic apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said adjustable legs may be pivoted parallel with said rails and retained thereagatinst by spring clips.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Zinkin Apr. 12, 1960 

